US President Donald Trump has discussed trade practices with China in telephone calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House says.
Trump and Merkel also discussed "joining forces to counter" China's economic practices and alleged intellectual property theft, the White House said on Tuesday, in what would be a further escalation of Trump's trade actions against China.
Trump has repeatedly criticised China's trade practices, and the White House has demanded Beijing reduce its trade imbalance with the United States.
Trump, in the calls with Merkel and Macron, also praised the co-ordinated decision on Monday with governments across Europe to expel Russian diplomats. The expulsions were intended to punish the Kremlin for a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain that has been blamed on Moscow.
The US president also pushed for intensifying cooperation with Turkey on Syria in his call with Macron, according to the White House.
Merkel called for dialogue on trade policy between the European Union and the United States in the call.
Trump last Thursday temporarily excluded the EU, the US' biggest trading partner, and six non-European countries from higher US import duties on steel and aluminium.
"The chancellor called for a dialogue process between the European Union and the United States on trade policy, taking into account the rules-based international trade system," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement on Tuesday.
During their phone call, the two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria and with North Korea, Seibert said.
